Tamil Nadu experienced unprecedented floods in November-December 2015, with Chennai bearing the brunt of non-stop rains and inundation paralysing normal life. High sea surface temperatures over the Bay of Bengal, a stationary pressure trough and easterly waves caused this phenomenon.

Ever since independence, dams were looked upon as the temples of modern India, our saviour against droughts, and partners in India’s development. However, ill-conceived structures devoid of environmental assessment and lack of upstream and downstream flow data have turned them into killers throughout the length and breadth of the country.

Traditional building techniques have always existed in regions vulnerable to earthquakes. Unfortunately, aspirations to modernity have tended to bury these norms, resulting in heavy casualties in recent times.

Various numerical weather prediction (NWP) techniques are used for the prediction of tropical cyclones (TC) over the northern Indian Ocean (NIO). The article describes an objective NWP based cyclone prediction system (CPS) used for operational cyclone forecasting over the NIO.

According to the Fourth Assessment Report of the IPCC 2007, human utilisation of the coastal zone, worldwide, increased dramatically during the 20th century and this trend appears to be certain to continue during the 21st century. India will be no exception. Climate change and its resultant sea-level rise can significantly increase the vulnerability of a much larger coastal population in the years to come.
A cyclone of a specified intensity in the Bay of Bengal striking the east coast of India...